Depois de muita hesitação (pelo preço e pelo tamanho da série, respectivamente 149.85 dólares no formato ebook e 5.373 páginas no formato impresso), resolvi enfrentar esta monumental série de quatro livros de N. T. Wright, escrita ao longo de 21 anos (1992 a 2013). [Vide abaixo o nome da série e dos volumes individuais.]

Confesso que o faço com temor e tremor. O temor é o de, por qualquer razão, não chegar ao fim da leitura e do estudo da obra. O tremor é o de ver desafiadas algumas ideias que tenho mantido por um bom tempo, desde que li The Quest of the Historical Jesus, de Albert Schweitzer, no meu primeiro ano de Seminário, em 1964.

[O livro de Schweitzer, escrito em Alemão e publicado em 1906, me foi dado, na tradução para o Inglês, encadernada, por meu professor de Novo Testamento, Rev. Osmundo Affonso Miranda. Escrevi, ao longo dos dois anos e meio que permaneci no Seminário de Campinas, um trabalho de cerca de 100 páginas sobre o tema do Quest, que nunca mais revi ou terminei de escrever.]

Enfim. Já comecei a ler.

Um outro problema, mais sério, é a minha dispersão e, de certo modo, o meu estilo não convencional (desorganizado? hipertextual?) de leitura. Comecei a ler pelo Vol 4 da série — o volume final. E leio, como uma vez disse o Rubem Alves, como uma pulga: saltando daqui para li, mudando de volume, voltando ao ponto em que estava… E logo no início achei material que me fez escrever um artigo sobre “A Filosofia, a Sabedoria e O Canto da Coruja”. Escrevi em Inglês (“Philosophy, Wisdom and The Owl’s Corner”), traduzi eu mesmo para o Português. O original e a tradução estão em minha conta hoje principal no Facebook (@eduardo.chaves). E eu, que já tinha uma página no Facebook e um blog sobre “O Canto da Coruja”, acabei por decidir criar uma outra página no Facebook e um outro blog (o de número 68), estes em Inglês, chamados pelo mesmo nome: “The Owl’s Corner” — em homenagem à minha morada. [O artigo, em Inglês e Português, está disponível na minha página “The Owl’s Corner” no Facebook, à qual se pode aceder através do handle @theowlscorner no Facebook. O blog terá de esperar um pouco, gentileza da WordPress, que insiste em colocar entraves no meu caminho, porque eu insisto em lhe pagar o mínimo indispensável para chegar aos meus objetivos, não o que ela gostaria de receber.

É isso. Vocês são testemunhas das loucuras de um idoso de 80 anos que alguns acreditam esteja à beira da senilidade…

Series: Christian Origins and the Question of God

(Four book series)

[Available in hardback, paperback and ebook, Kindle format]

by N. T. Wright

Books in this series (4 books)

1. New Testament: People of God [558 pages]

2. Jesus: Victory of God [2.267 pages (sic)]

3. Resurrection: Son of God [860 pages]

4. Paul and the Faithfulness of God (Two Book Set) [1.688 pages]

Total number of pages: 5.373 pages

Description of each book in the series:

1. New Testament: People God

[Vol 1 of the Series “Christian Origins and the Question of God”]

by N. T. Wright

This first volume in the series Christian Origins and the Question of God provides a historical, theological, and literary study of first-century Judaism and Christianity. Wright offers a preliminary discussion of the meaning of the word “god” within those cultures, as he explores the ways in which developing an understanding of those first-century cultures are of relevance for the modern world.

2. Jesus: Victory of God

[Vol 2 os the Series “Christian Origins and the Question of God”]

by N. T. Wright

In this highly anticipated volume, N. T. Wright focuses directly on the historical Jesus: Who was he? What did he say? And what did he mean by it?

Wright begins by showing how the questions posed by Albert Schweitzer a century ago remain central today. Then he sketches a profile of Jesus in terms of his prophetic praxis, his subversive stories, the symbols by which he reordered his world, and the answers he gave to the key questions that any world view must address. The examination of Jesus’ aims and beliefs, argued on the basis of Jesus’ actions and their accompanying riddles, is sure to stimulate heated response. Wright offers a provocative portrait of Jesus as Israel’s Messiah who would share and bear the fate of the nation and would embody the long-promised return of Israel’s God to Zion.

3. Resurrection: Son of God

[Vol 3 of the Series “Christian Origins and the Question of God”]

by N. T. Wright

This book, third in Wright’s series Christian Origins and the Question of God, sketches a map of ancient beliefs about life after death, in both the Greco-Roman and Jewish worlds. It then highlights the fact that the early Christians’ belief about the afterlife belonged firmly on the Jewish spectrum, while introducing several new mutations and sharper definitions. This, together with other features of early Christianity, forces the historian to read the Easter narratives in the gospels, not simply as late rationalizations of early Christian spirituality, but as accounts of two actual events: the empty tomb of Jesus and his “appearances.”

4. Paul and the Faithfulness of God (Two Book Set)

[Vol 4 of the Series “Christian Origins and the Question of God”]

by N. T. Wright

This highly anticipated two-book fourth volume in N. T. Wright’s magisterial series, Christian Origins and the Question of God, is destined to become the standard reference point on the subject for all serious students of the Bible and theology. The mature summation of a lifetime’s study, this landmark book pays a rich tribute to the breadth and depth of the apostle’s vision, and offers an unparalleled wealth of detailed insights into his life, times, and enduring impact.

Wright carefully explores the whole context of Paul’s thought and activity—Jewish, Greek and Roman, cultural, philosophical, religious, and imperial—and shows how the apostle’s worldview and theology enabled him to engage with the many-sided complexities of first-century life that his churches were facing. Wright also provides close and illuminating readings of the letters and other primary sources, along with critical insights into the major twists and turns of exegetical and theological debate in the vast secondary literature. The result is a rounded and profoundly compelling account of the man who became the world’s first, and greatest, Christian theologian.

[Please, wish me luck!!! EC]

Em Salto, 15 de Maio de 2023

Categories: Jesus, N T Wright, Paul, The Origins of Christianity, The People of God